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This is the Liberty Global: headline of prioritising innovation the feature and inclusion
DIGITAL REPORT 2021
DIGITAL REPORT 2022
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PRIORIT ISING
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Gavin Sheldon, Managing Director for Technology Development at Liberty Global, discusses the company’s innovative spirit and inspiring response to the COVID-19 pandemic
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iberty Global is a world leader in converged broadband, video and mobile communications services. Delivering nextgeneration products through DOCSIS Hybrid Fibre, advanced fibre and 5G networks, Liberty Global connects 85 million subscribers across Europe. The company operates under some of the best-known consumer brands, including Virgin Media O2 in the UK, VodafoneZiggo in The Netherlands, Telenet in Belgium, Sunrise UPC in Switzerland and UPC in Eastern Europe. Commenting on the company, Gavin Sheldon, Managing Director for Technology Development said: “We are, at our core, a large-scale broadband television and mobile business. In addition to that Liberty Global is a significant and successful technology ventures business. We have many ventures we invest in - growing content, technology
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and infrastructure businesses - that add value in and around our core and emerging business. For example last year we launched an edge computing business called Atlas Edge and we also invest in Formula E, the electric high-performance car racing brand. I would characterise the company as a large scale telco and media business, but also with a diverse M&A business portfolio,” he added. 6
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With his team, Sheldon is responsible for developing the technology platforms that Liberty Global deploys to the businesses it owns either fully or partly, across all of the markets in which it operates. “We are responsible for the strategy, design, architecture, build and deployment of our entertainment, connectivity, central mobile and fixed voice platforms, and our centrally delivered B2B services.” he explained.
Gavin Sheldon TITLE: MANAGING DIRECTOR FOR TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
EXECUTIVE BIO
LOCATION: UNITED KINGDOM Gavin Sheldon is a senior technology executive leader who has enjoyed a successful 25 year plus career across a number of sectors including Energy, Communications, IT, Telecommunications, and Media. Since 2016 Gavin has led a significant part of Liberty Globals’ group technology division, responsible for delivering award winning products and services deployed in all of the markets Liberty operates in across Europe, including Virgin Media O2, Vodafone Ziggo, UPC Switzerland, Telenet, and UPC Poland. In his role as Managing Director, Technology Development, he leads a global team of over 450 Engineers who design, build, deploy and operate common Connectivity, Entertainment, and Mobile and Fixed Voice platforms powering all of Liberty’s businesses. Prior to joining Liberty, Gavin has enjoyed time working at British Gas, Royal Mail and the Post Office, CSC, O2, and Telefonica in roles ranging from Technical Support and Development, Operations and Service Management, Innovation and Design, through to Strategy and Business Development. Married to wife Kate, and father to Isla, 8 and Jenna, 4. Gavin is a proud northern Englishman, who travels often and enjoys a global outlook.
“ We are, at our core, a large-scale broadband television and mobile business. In addition to that Liberty Global is a significant and successful technology ventures business” GAVIN SHELDON
MANAGING DIRECTOR FOR TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT, LIBERTY GLOBAL
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Interviewee: Erica Moreti, Head of Strategy and Innovation at EPAM Continuum Erica Moreti, Head of Strategy and Innovation at EPAM Continuum, explores how the metaverse is driving the next generation of the internet and where today’s potential growth opportunities are. The metaverse is being built today, piece by piece to connect people, help them work, learn, and play. While it may take several years for the metaverse to fully come to fruition, early-stage investment opportunities are emerging as the metaverse evolves. According to Moreti, telcos can continue to focus on their core business offerings while expanding into both the physical and digital world. “Metaverse could perhaps be the best use case for monetization of 5G, bringing low latency networks seamlessly into your everyday life. If telcos can provide the speed and capacity for virtual reality and augmented reality applications, they will soon be able to support in creating virtual worlds. As 5G (and the ever closer 6G) continue to evolve, this level of connectivity is essential to drive next generation connectivity and enable the future of the metaverse.”
Innovation at EPAM means connecting the dots and blurring the lines of physical and digital in a way that defines a path forward for businesses into the metaverse. Optiva Media has recently joined the EPAM family, bringing with it industry specific media and virtual reality products like metaverse platform Virtual Xpanse, and a host of clients that they have partnered with on virtual reality initiatives including Vodafone’s 5G powered virtual reality.
EPAM by the Numbers • 6/10 of the largest telcos in the world rely on EPAM • 500M + players engaged across EPAM supported platforms • Partnered with 160+ leading technology companies
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Using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to benefit employees and customers As Managing Director of Technology Development, Sheldon uses technology to remove barriers, helping teams complete their work effectively and efficiently. “My job involves making sure we support our people in everything they need to do, whether it's through making sure they've got the right resources or prioritisation on delivery. A major part of my role is making sure we're clear on what we will and won't do, and crucially, removing barriers for people,” he said. 10
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Recognising the power of artificial intelligence and machine learning (ML), and its ability to free up time for Liberty Global employees, Sheldon explained the company is increasingly looking at this technology to harness its rich dataset and use it to drive action. He explained: “We increasingly use data, AI and ML to improve the functionality and prioritisation of features, and bug removal/ fixes/improvements on our platforms. Telemetry is at the heart of the ongoing optimisation of our platforms, helping us to
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improve the customer experience with all our regular, agile-based software releases.” “We use artificial intelligence to spot where customers have poor in-home Wi-Fi and placement of boosters, and we'll automatically reach out to them before they contact us to advise them, for example ‘we can see you have poor Wi-Fi in your bedroom. We recommend moving your Wi-Fi booster, and/or adding a new Wi-Fi booster which we can provide’. Data is allowing us to be proactive and help us making our products better for the customer’. Harnessing this technology is part of Liberty Global’s core strategy. As keen innovators, the company is always looking for new technologies to invest in and develop. Reflecting on the past two years, Sheldon outlined some key examples of this: “We've launched a small, innovative Internet Protocol (IP) set-top box. It has won several
“ My job involves making sure we support our people in everything they need to do, whether it's through making sure they've got the right resources or prioritisation on delivery” GAVIN SHELDON
MANAGING DIRECTOR FOR TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT, LIBERTY GLOBAL
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“We use artificial intelligence to spot where customers have poor in-home Wi-Fi and placement of boosters, and we'll automatically reach out to them before they contact us to advise them” GAVIN SHELDON
MANAGING DIRECTOR FOR TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT, LIBERTY GLOBAL
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“ There's more to do but I’m proud of everything our people are doing across the organisation to build an inclusive movement, because it's simply the right thing to do” GAVIN SHELDON
MANAGING DIRECTOR FOR TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT, LIBERTY GLOBAL
awards for its green credentials and for its design aesthetic. Importantly it allows us to deliver the same entertainment experience to all our customers, whatever the network type. As long as they're connected to the internet, we can give them the service they desire. This device runs the same self-built middleware and back-office as our more traditional Cable/IP Hybrid device. We now have one connectivity platform, powering different boxes and product types, across all of our markets.” Maintaining Liberty Global’s digital-first strategy With its vast reach across Europe, Liberty Global offers broadband/Wi-Fi, mobile and entertainment services. To ensure its customers gain the best digital experience, the company provides a converged service both in a commercial and technical sense. “Digital-first is our strategy, we want to try and engage with our customers digitally because that’s what they want to do! Major transformations are underway in every one 14
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of our markets to improve our IT and digital technology capability to make it easier for customers to engage with us.” By listening to customer feedback, Liberty Global has created platforms that earn high levels of customer satisfaction. Sheldon says: “We are proud of our entertainment platform, called Horizon. It is evolving to be a place where we aggregate more content of different types - content we own, free to air, national broadcaster and increasingly apps such as Netflix, Amazon, Disney+ and YouTube. It’s a smart platform that delivers a fantastic customer experience, and so far, our customers' feedback tells us the strategy is working. We're continuing to invest in the platform in line with evolving customer demands,” he continued.
tricky and uncertain time for many, Sheldon explained how the company played an essential role keeping people connected at home and making sure businesses, education and healthcare services could continue to function with a reliable, secure and fast internet connection. Although the pandemic highlighted the importance of the company’s services - with its usage going up by 35% and remaining there – it also demonstrated the resilience of staff who effectively and quickly transitioned to remote working.
Rising to the challenges brought about by COVID-19 As with companies across the globe, Liberty Global had to respond to challenges brought about by COVID-19. Although a libertyglobal.com
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Sheldon commented on his team’s response to remote and agile working: “We saw productivity increase during the lockdown because people were spending less time travelling and more time working on core deliverables.” Also, during the pandemic, Liberty Global launched the Virgin Media O2 joint venture (JV). “That was one of the biggest telco JVs that's happened in the past 10 years. 18
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Largely orchestrated and planned over video conference calls!” said Sheldon. Not only did the company’s response to the pandemic show its ability to thrive in unprecedented conditions, but it also highlighted the company’s unwavering commitment to its employees and their well-being. Sheldon adds: “Businesses are built on relationships, team work and on connections. I’m proud of how we've worked hard to support our colleagues
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“ Businesses are built on relationships, team work and on connections. I’m proud of how we've worked hard to support our colleagues through this period with wellbeing packages” GAVIN SHELDON
MANAGING DIRECTOR FOR TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT, LIBERTY GLOBAL
through this period with wellbeing packages, apps and access to industry experts. We also launched the Liberty Global Response Fund, raising $4m, to help employees and their families affected by the crisis.” Growing with diversity and inclusion at the forefront Sheldon also praises Liberty Global’s ambition to provide an inclusive culture that supports employee wellbeing and
empowers people to bring their full self to work. “In the past two years, we have had a pronounced focus on diversity and inclusion. We’re running a number of initiatives across the group that are challenging our thinking and encouraging diverse, equitable and inclusive conversations within our business. “In particular we are taking action to hear from our employees through surveys and listening sessions and ensure promotion of positive role models, removing any bias libertyglobal.com
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“ Digital-first is our strategy, we want to try and engage with our customers digitally because that’s what they want to do!” GAVIN SHELDON
MANAGING DIRECTOR FOR TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT, LIBERTY GLOBAL
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in our recruitment practices and focusing on hiring diverse talent. We’re also taking steps to ensure that our communication and policies are inclusive for all genders, races, ethnicities, disabilities, neurodiversities, ages and sexualities, and we have set up a number of employee resource groups to provide communities of support for our people,” he added. Liberty Global, Sheldon outlined, is committed to building its diverse, equitable and inclusive culture as it grows in the future.
“There's more to do but I’m proud of everything our people are doing across the organisation to build an inclusive movement, because it's simply the right thing to do. I believe this for two reasons, firstly my personal experience of working in more diverse teams is you innovate more effectively, and secondly if we better represent the breadth of our customers we will be a more successful business.”
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Liberty Global plc Griffin House 161 Hammersmith Road London W6 8BS United Kingdom T +44 20 8483 6300 libertyglobal.com POWERED BY:
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